Effect of organic fertilization and pruning on cacao yield in Cundinamarca, Colombia

Autor: Camilo Andrés Vega, Jaime Torres-Bazurto, Juan Carlos Barrientos-Fuentes, Stanislav Magnitskiy, Helber Enrique Balaguera-López
Jazyk: Spanish; Castilian
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Revista U.D.C.A Actualidad & Divulgación Científica, Vol 24, Iss 2 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0123-4226
2619-2551
DOI: 10.31910/rudca.v24.n2.2021.1818
Popis: Cacao has high social importance in Colombia but requires cultivation techniques that improve its productivity, especially in the production of organic cacao. Pruning and organic fertilizers were assessed as treatments to increase the bean yield in an old cacao crop in Cundinamarca. The positive effects of organic fertilizer application and pruning on the pod morphometry and bean yield were established. The application of organic fertilizers with pruning, in general, increased the length and circumference of cacao pods. A negative correlation (R=-0.618) was found among the relative chlorophyll contents in leaves at the end of the harvest period and with the number of pods per tree. A positive correlation (R=0.748) was obtained between the fresh weight of pods and the dry weight of beans. No correlation was established between the relative chlorophyll contents in leaves and the bean dry weight. Pruning plus organic fertilization increased the total dry weight of beans per tree at almost 15 %, which makes pruning with organic fertilizer application the best tool for increasing yield in organic cacao production in old plantations in Cundinamarca.
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